You can generate an online appraisal in seconds, and shipping is free.

Announced in late October, eBay’s new Instant Sale pilot program, which offers cash in exchange for used electronic devices, is starting to gain traction. After the program’s first week, the initiative generated more than 25,000 online requests for appraisals, said Gaurav Rekhi, eBay’s Senior Product Manager for Sustainable Commerce. The program has also generated substantial coverage in the media, with Yahoo! News noting that sellers get “free shipping and a personal data removal service” for their cell phones, laptops, MP3 players and other devices.

So how does Instant Sale work? In less than five minutes, a user can plug in the name, make, and model of a device, answer a few simple questions about item condition, and get a cash offer instantly. If the user accepts the offer, a free shipping label is generated, and the money is deposited in the user’s PayPal account typically within a week after the device ships (to allow for the product to be received and the condition verified). Even if a device is determined to have zero value, a user can still ship it for free for proper recycling.

As is true of the eBay Box, a reusable, environmentally friendly box created at eBay and being used this holiday season by buyers and sellers for shipping, Instant Sale came about through the eBay Green Team’s Innovation Expo, focused on generating new concepts from employees at every level of the organization. It began as a prototype called “Get Green,” developed by eBay user interface engineer Donald Perciful. From concept phase, the program was incubated and brought to launch by a cross-functional team that included employees from eBay’s seller, product, sustainability, and strategy teams.

“The idea was that we could help users with unsuccessful listings decide whether they should recycle, donate or attempt to resell using eBay,” said Perciful. “The concept eventually became the Instant Sale pilot.” Instant Sale benefits from the size of eBay’s online marketplace — the largest in the world, with over 92 million active users.

Here are some of the early impressions on Instant Sale from the media:

“If you're a gadget lover … then it's likely you have a drawer or closet full of old and unused bits of technology. Now eBay is making it easier to get rid of all of this unwanted technology with its Instant Sale program.” — Gearlog